As new lawsuits filed under the Americans with Disabilities Act continue to crop up against California businesses, one case against Pier 1 Imports, Inc., could give hope to some business owners.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco ruled in favor of the retailer, finding that plaintiff Byron Chapman does not have standing to pursue claims for alleged barriers that he had not personally encountered and where he was not deterred from entering the store. The opinion can be read here.
Chapman visited the Pier 1 store in Vacaville, in Northern California, in 2004 and alleged that he encountered five alleged accessibility barriers to his use of the men's restroom. "Further," the opinion reads, "despite encountering these barriers, Chapman testified that he was not deterred from visiting the store or using the restroom, that he intended to return to the store in the future, and that he may already have done so."
Chapman had attached to his complaint a "survey of access code violations" which listed 23 alleged barriers: the encountered alleged barriers, plus 18 additional barriers that he did not encounter. A new report 10 months later identified 30 alleged accessibility violations, repeating three of the alleged violations found in the earlier survey and asserting 27 new alleged violations.
The district court granted Pier 1's motion for summary judgment on the five accessibility barriers.
The Ninth Circuit then concluded that Chapman did not have standing to pursue claims for un-encountered barriers.
"This case is good news for retailers and other businesses who have far too often been targeted by opportunistic and vexatious litigants," lead appellate lawyer Laura Franze of Hunton & Williams LLP, said in a news release on the firm's web site.